A Mercedes driver has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for causing the death of an Ecuadorian politician’s daughter in London.
Vanessa Sagnay de la Bastida, a 27-year-old psychologist known as Charlotte, was crossing the road with her fiancé, Michael Williams, near Wandsworth Bridge in west London on March 16, 2022, when she was fatally struck by a speeding car.
The driver, 39-year-old Octavian Cadar, was traveling at approximately 55mph, more than double the 20mph speed limit.
As the couple attempted to cross, the high-speed approach of Cadar’s car caused them to become separated in fear.
Charlotte was struck before she could reach the pavement, leading to her being thrown into the air and landing on a railing and signpost. She suffered a catastrophic head injury and died at the scene.
Initially, Cadar, from Bexley in south-east London, blamed the couple for the collision, accusing them of “messing about in the road.”
However, he later admitted to jurors that this was not true. The court heard that the accident could have been avoided if Cadar had been driving at 30mph.
After just 42 minutes of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of causing Charlotte’s death by dangerous driving.
In addition to his prison sentence, Cadar was disqualified from driving for 10 years and eight months.
Cadar had a prior conviction for speeding in 2018, for which he was fined and given six penalty points at Bromley Magistrates’ Court.
During the sentencing, Charlotte’s fiancé, Mr. Williams, who was pursuing a PhD at University College London, expressed his devastation.
“No-one should have the power to kill just to drive fast,” he said, adding that Cadar “valued speeding in a sports car more than our lives” and reacted with anger and blame after the incident.
Williams spoke emotionally about his life with Charlotte, describing her as “the best friend I ever had” and praising her “magical ability to support people in just the way they needed.”
He shared that they had been finalizing their wedding plans on the day of her death, lamenting that Charlotte “never got to hear what I wrote in my wedding vows. Instead, I read them at her funeral.”
Charlotte’s mother, Jeanne Sagnay de la Bastida, also addressed the court, tearfully speaking of her pride in her daughter’s academic achievements, including two Master’s degrees from St. Andrew’s University, and her plans to begin a PhD.
“My daughter was, is and always will be my life, my everything and my everyone,” she said, describing her grief as feeling like an “atomic bomb” had exploded, leaving her struggling to breathe “toxic air.”
Source-BBC
